Who fancies a Basking Shark Cruise?

by Paul Cormacain

THE Ulster Wildlife Trust is one of the organisations that is interested
in many aspects of wildlife, and nothing comes wilder than sharks.
Sharks are our largest fish, and many people are concerned about its
welfare and its future.

The UWT aims to discover more about this large
fish, and is doing much research on the subject. They feel that any
important conservation project must have full information about what
they are trying to protect.

The Wildlife Trusts are involved in a
three year project, initially involving the southern shores of Devon and
Cornwall. The Irish Sea is the next area to come under scrutiny, then
the Firth of Clyde and the sea of the Hebrides. Photo-identification
will be used, and video recordings will also be used. This will help to
ascertain if the same sharks turn up in the same area each year, and
what is it that attracts the creatures.

The Ulster Wildlife Trust is
concerned about more than sharks, and was among the first organisations
to welcome the recent report on conservation and sustainable development
on the seas around Britain and Ireland. "The report sets a framework for
the management of marine resources in the future," says the trust, going
on to suggest improvements.

Back to getting thrown to the sharks!

The basking shark can be quite
enormous, and awesome. It is one of the larger fishes in the world, and
can grow to a massive 12 metres, and can weigh up to three thousand kilo
grams. You would not want one of those to sit on top of you.

It has
five very long gill slits covering the sides of the throat, and this
gill arrangement distinguishes the basking from other sharks. Its eating
habits means that 1.5 million kilo grams of water pass through its gills
every hour, and the food is filtered out at this stage. The good news is
that the food is tiny, and consists only of plankton. So if you meet up
with a basking shark, he will swim away from you and look for a plankton
meal elsewhere.

It is in the summer that you are most liable to see
one of these huge, harmless creatures. Current thinking was that the
basking shark was only seen in the oceans around Ireland and Britain,
but new thinking is that it is available in the Irish Sea. Not too much
is yet known about their biology, but it is thought that the female
incubates eggs in its body until they hatch. When the young are born,
they may be 1.5 metres long.

There was a time when the basking shark
was hunted by folk from Norway, Scotland and Ireland, for its gigantic
liver could yield up to 2.5 kilo litres of oil, valuable for oil lamps
and candle making.

The Ulster Wildlife Trust has actually invited two
members of the public onto their boat, and they are going out next month
to study the basking shark in the Irish Sea.

The organisation is also
asking that if anyone sights a shark, or porpoise, or whale, they could
note details, like time, date, numbers, sizes, behaviour. This
information could then be passed on to it, and it will coordinate the
information, and share it with other interested bodies.

So the next
time you see a basking shark, ask it how the plankton is going, invite
it to a race, but do not be afraid of it.

Coming Events

Every Saturday and Sunday in July: Guided tours around Castle
Espie, at 1430, phone them on 028 9187 4146.

Monday 1st July to
Wednesday 31st July: Animal, Bird, Creepy crawlies, a good old A B C
trail, for children of all ages, contact 028 9187 4146

Sunday 14th
to Wednesday 24th July: Check the young ducks behind the scenes at
Castle Espie, more from 028 9187 4146.